Catch-up

We've been super busy lately...having fun!  I thought I better take some time to sit down and share!

With the nice weather, I have had Jack at the park a couple of times.  He loves it there!  He loves going up and down the stairs and swinging. 

 

Jack had a pretty good Easter.  We went to my Gramma's the week before and had an Easter Egg hunt...he loved finding the eggs and putting them in the basket.  We went again the next week at my other Gramma's.

We had Steve's parents over on Good Friday and while I was making dinner, Jack did something he has  done only once before....

That's right, he fell asleep while eating cucumber slices.  Needless to say, he went to bed early that evening.  

One of Jack's little games is to play peek-a-boo.  Here he is peeking out of the closet:

It has been raining so much here lately.  In fact I think it is considered the wettest April on record.  Steve and Jack went to play outside on a dry day, but they came back in looking like they were attacked by a mud puddle.  

We decided to take Jack to a local Y that has a waterpark.  He was nervous at first, but he had a great time. Sorry that the pics are all foggy; it was really warm in there!  I was really impressed by the Y; we had a tour, and our guide boasted the fact that they are a Christian organization (accepting of all however!)  

After we went swimming, we checked out a bike shop nearby.  We found a tiny bike and put Jack on it.  He practiced his track stand and thought it was a pretty cool bike!

This past Sunday, Steve competed in a mountain biking race at Micheaux State Forest.  Jack and I cheered him on, and he ended up getting third in his group!  He got a pair of sweet biking glasses and bragging rights.  He did wreck his derailer which is a bummer, but what bike race would be complete without breaking something?!  At least it wasn't his body!

A few thoughts...

I went to look at houses today, again.  I know, I know!  I have probably seen every house in our price range in a 30 mile radius from here.  I liked the one we saw, but the taxes were twice of any house we have seen!  I think I want to look where Steve is working now.  I'm still torn though because I wanted to live here.  I guess this is God's way of teaching me patience.  I know in my head that we'll find the right place, at His time; but sometimes its just really hard to wait.  He has always come through before....how quickly I can forget!

Two of my jobs are coming to an end soon.  Yay!  It's not that I don't like the work that I do, and it's important too; I just feel like my place is to be at home with Jack, new baby, and taking care of my husband.  I am still teaching my piano lessons (by the way, if you want lessons, just email me!)  and will have one client I work with at ASN.  I think that's plenty for now.

Steve is doing well.  He is competing in a bike race this weekend.  We're praying the rain doesn't make the trail too nasty for him.  His ADD is getting well under control by the simple diet and exercise changes he has made lately.

I wrote this post a little while back but never had a chance to post it:

I’ve been keeping a list of things I need/want for our new little bundle of joy.  We don’t really need much as I will be able to use all of Jack’s old things.  I have two big ticket items I need: a car seat and double stroller.  I’m going to get an identical car seat for the new baby that Jack has which is a Sunshine Kids Radian.  It is the ONLY convertible car seat I could find that would fit rear facing in my car.  It’s somewhat pricey, but it will fit the new babe until s/he only needs a booster seat(which are cheap compared to this one!)  My second big item is probably more like a “want,” but I figured if we move into town, we would walk more than ride in the car.  I’ve looked for used double strollers on Craigslist, but I haven’t really found any that don’t look like they’ve been through both World Wars.  I was going to check out a local consignment sale coming up at the end of the month to see if I could find any.  I have it narrowed down to three strollers that I would want if I need to buy used.  I really want a side by side because the tandem strollers are so hard to push and maneuver.  I’m thinking either the Maclaren double (I’ve seen a good price on it!), Combi double, or I found a Joovy that looks nicer than the other two.   I usually look for nice wheels for ease of pushing since our singles have horrible wheels! 

I want to pick up a few plain onesies too, but I’ll probably get those at the consignment sale.  The last thing I want (or rather, need) is new dipes!  I’m going to buy two different kinds to try out on Jack, my little water hose.  I want to switch to wool covers with either a prefold or fitted inside. I’m going to try out a Loveybums and a Sugarpeas to see which I prefer.  The nice thing about wool is that you don’t need as many covers since you can reuse them and only need to wash them about every two weeks.  I haven’t decided about the insides though.  I’ve seen a way to make a prefold into a fitted, but I don’t know if I could do it.  I have a few more months to decide.   I’m hoping to have Jack out of dipes by the time the new babe arrives, but he won’t even be two by then, so I am not going to count on it.  We’re going to start our potty training as soon as the weather turns warm.  I figured it would be easier to do if he can be naked.   I plan on using all of my ABA training to get this kid into undies!

There are a few other things that I plan on making for the new babe.  I want to make a blankie, booties, hat, wipes, bibs, and spit cloths.  I’ll have to post a picture of these as I make them all.  Since we don’t know the gender of the baby yet, most things will probably be green which is my favorite color anyway.   I figured I would crochet a few flowers to put on the hat and such just in case it’s a girl.  I also want to appliqué a few onesies with non-gender specific things.  Lastly, I was going to crochet a little pinafore in case it’s a girl.  If it isn’t a girl, I at least have a nice gift for someone who does! 

You know I can’t leave without a picture or two:

A delicious Apple Pie I made with a new crust recipe.  It was divine!  My secret weapons: Ida Red Apples and Rum!

He was headed out the door with momma's purse.

How cute!

Updates...

Jack has been changing so quickly lately.  He has been more talkative and overall busy.  He has been sleeping better though; which has been great for Steve and I.  Here are some things he's been "learning:"

Playing outside 2 weeks ago when it was 70 degrees!

Awww....we found flowers.

a boy and his stick

He loves the dirt...

....and water!

more flowers!

He loves playing in his car.  He gets in, shuts the doors and shakes it.  He then kicks the door open, comes and gives me a hug, blows me a kiss and gets back in!

this is how you use the big funnel!

The little stinker found my stash of baking apples and decided he'd eat one...

....it must have been really good...

....because he ate half of it!

And some videos!

When we went for our hike, he tried to go over a branch/tree on the ground and couldn't step over it.  So he did what any little boy would do...play with it!

Yikes...he's turning into a monkey.  Notice the unzipping of the sweater.  He insists upon his zippers being undone!

And once he's in the chair, it's Jack story time.

We're still looking for houses. We went to look at a few today that were promising.  We also looked at one that we walked back out of as soon as we entered it!  I'm sure we will find one in God's time...it's just hard to know when that is!  Keep praying for us!

Here's my yummy bread I made the other day:

Lovely End to a Lovely Weekend!

I love weekends like this!  Saturday morning, I saw a client while Steve headed off to the Chiropractor.  We were able to meet up for lunch together afterwards.  We ate at this lovely little pretzel cafe in town.  Those were some delicious pretzels!  Jack really liked them too!  Afterwards, we headed off to Bass Pro Shops.  Steve got a gift card from his parents, and we wanted to check out their coolers.  It was packed as they were having a kid's fly fishing activity day.  When I took Jack to the lav to do a diaper change; I noticed a guy doing a fishing demonstration in their fish tank.  I couldn't believe my eyes....it was my "godfather!"  We left the store with a little bit of fishing gear, a cooler, a cute little hat for Jack, and an adorable t-shirt for Jack that has a mountain bike on it!  Steve got all excited (which I'm pretty sure he's never excited about clothes!) about the picture of the bike on the front.  He claims it's a Cannondale Scalpel.  Anywho, we're all set for our camping trip over Easter Weekend.  We went to Wegman's afterwards and got some groceries.  I got some cleaning done when I got home.

Probably the most exciting part of the weekend is that Jack slept all night....and slept in until eight!  Normally he wakes between 5:30-6:30, so this is a huge step for him :).  Our Sunday was spent relaxing with each other.  Oh, and I did get three wool diaper covers finished this weekend.  I'll have to put up pictures when I get a chance.

TGIF

I am so thankful it's is Friday!  I am exhausted.  Unfortunately I have to work on Saturday, so I can't totally hole myself up at home. I think we might go for a hike over to the park at some point, which will be nice.
But anywho, my week has been crazy.  Monday I worked and went to look at a house which turned out to be a disappointment.  I've been working on an environmental education lesson plan and have been trying to fit in piano practices for the fine arts festival.  Oh, and our basement flooded.  Thank you, Mother Nature.  I guess I shouldn't complain because March Showers bring April Flowers?  At least I'm hoping it'll work like that.
I didn't sleep very well at the beginning of the week, but I saw the Chiropractor on Wednesday, and I slept better than a baby!  I also decided I need to really focus on exercising to stay fit for this pregnancy.  I worked out on Thursday and today; and wow!  My legs are a little sore!  Well, I have to be off to work.  Thanks for listening to my crazy week.

Yikes!!! A little too close to nature...

Don't get me wrong, I love nature and animals and all.  What's neat living back in the woods is seeing all of God's amazing Creation!  But...if you saw this crawling by you on your couch, you would not be a happy camper either!

I was sitting on the couch by lamplight, giving Jack his nighty-night bottle when I saw something creep by me. I screamed and jumped up from the couch.  Steve came running into the room, and let's just say we won't be seeing this lovely spider any more.  By the way, it is some sort of Wolf spider.

On a lighter note...Jack has been sleeping through the night the past few nights.  Praise the Lord!  Baby number 2 has been busy lately and I'm trying to get an appointment for an Ultrasound.  Stephen really wants to find out the sex of this baby, but I really want the mystery and surprise at the end!  What do you think?

Miscellaneous Musings...

Spring is almost here!  I love winter and snow, but it has just been miserable...

Little Jack hated the snow.  Can you see the tear in his eye?  Maybe he'll like it better next year.  I also am glad it is getting warmer out too because our furnace has worked off and on all winter.  It was so bad we were growing ice on our cable outlet:

Pretty sad, right?  Well, I think the furnace is finally repaired, just in time for us to move out ;).  Speaking of moving, we have been looking at houses probably weekly.  I have probably seen every house in our price range in town, and we have found nothing!  We are now branching out to the surrounding community in our search.  Pray that we find something in His time.  I definitely don't want to rush it, but I would like to have my own home.  

Jack has been a very busy boy lately.  He enjoys doing things that we do.  Here are some pictures of his latest  shenanigans:

Don't worry; I put a stool there to replace the puzzle holder.

Wearing daddy's shoes.

Notice the cereal box on the floor.

mmmmm....

I just know this will fit in my pocket...

Baby #2 is doing fine.  S/he is making momma's belly very large!  I saw my midwife this past week and everything seems fine; I got to hear the baby's heart beat which is exciting!  

Stephen has finished his training and is now starting at the county assistance office.  Pray that he does a good job and doesn't get laid off!

After moving in 4 months ago, I finally got my books on a bookshelf!  My daddy made me two matching bookshelves that I had seen in a J. C. Penney magazine a long time ago.  They were selling two shelves and a tv stand for $900! My dad made me the two bookshelves for $80...

On a final note, I finally saw some wildlife up close and personal while living in the woods:

This guy was right out our window!  I believe he's a Cooper's Hawk.